This year’s Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Vienna, Austria, as per the competition’s rule that the host country shall be the homeland of the previous year’s winner (Austrian Conchita Wurst took home the winning title in ESC 2014). Note: This list does not (and nor did the previous update) contain any of the seven countries that are given the Straight to Final status. The following reflects the regular representative choices from Ireland onward:Ireland: Singing the song Playing With Numbers will be 16-year-old Molly Sterling. She caught her big break three and a half years ago upon winning the Tipp Teen Idol Contest, a competition held in her hometown of County Tipperary, Ireland. Her prize was a recording deal with Popstar Studios, following which she entered into two other talent competitions and engaged in a supporting gig at a local arts center. Sterling released her first EP back in November 2014, entitled Strands of Heart.Israel: Representing this country in 2015’s Eurovision Song Contest is Nadav Gedj. At only 16, he is the winner of HaKokhav HaBa (The Next Star)’s second season, having been crowned just last month on February 17. He will be singing the song Golden Boy, the first Israeli song fully sung in English for their entry in Eurovision. Gedj was born in Paris, France. The track in question was written by Doron Medalie.Latvia: 22-year-old Aminata Savadogo, who prefers to go by her first name only, will be representing Latvia in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. This is not her first foray into Eurovision; back in 2014, she tried her hand at representing the country with the track I Can Breate, with the result that she placed fifth in the final. At this year’s Eurovision competition, however, she will be competing with the song Love Injected.Lithuania: Joining the ranks of this Eurovision year’s selection of duet competitors are Monika Linkyte and Vaidas Baumila. Their performance choice is entitled This Time, with their selection being decided on February 21. Linkyte has attempted to represent the country in Eurovision a total of five times, and also took a shot at being accepted in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest back in 2007. Baumila, a singer and actor, began garnering national attention upon placing third in TV3’s reality singing competition Dangus. Currently, he has released three albums and been involved in one major acting role in which he portrayed himself.Malta: One of two artists performing a track called Warrior, is 23-year-old Amber Bondin (another artist who chooses to go by their given name only). After scoring a whopping full 12 points from both the televote as well as all the jury groups at the Maltese national selection show, which occurred at the end of last November, she was selected to represent her country at this year’s Eurovision. Bondin is another seasoned Eurovision veteran, having made it to the Maltese national final five years in a row at this point. She also has prior experience being on the Eurovision stage, having served as Kurt Calleja’s (another Maltese singer) backup singer in the 2012 installment of the show (which took place in Azerbijan).
By Rebecca Grace
Sources:esctoday.comGuardian Liberty Voice (1) – ESC 2015 Representatives & Song Choices Part 1Guardian Liberty Voice (2) – ESC 2015 Representatives & Song Choices Part 2
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